LoL - LTA North: FlyQuest’s Quick Victory, Dignitas’ Determination Ending on Top Today

Today’s matches included some of the fastest games in this Split’s history, but not every team was able to end their match so quickly. Today was full of surprises as many expected a bloody battle for 1st Place, and a victory from LYON.

Many expected this series to be one of the most contested of the weekend, but FlyQuest managed to make quick work of Cloud9. In a shocking turn of events, the head-to-head between the current top two teams in LTA North ended up being the fastest of the Split so far.

FlyQuest started the game with an aggressive invade, but no kills were secured. Gabriël "Bwipo" Rau proxied the wave topside and got caught out by Robert "Blaber" Huang and Park "Thanatos" Seung-gyu, giving Cloud9 First Blood. FlyQuest’s early tempo helped Kacper "Inspired" Słoma secure the first dragon.

The teams postured over the Grubs spawning but Cloud9 was able to take all three, uncontested. A 5v5 broke out at Drake Pit, and FLY was able to clean up and take three kills for their own along with the Feat of Warfare. Round two kicked off on Cloud9’s respawn, resulting in two more kills and the second Drake for FLY.

FlyQuest took Rift Herald and won the Feats of Strength as they claimed their third major objective. By 19 minutes, FlyQuest was on Soul Point and five kills up. Atakhan went their way, and the gold lead hit 3k. A five-man dive cracked open Cloud9’s midlane, leading to an inhibitor falling. Despite Thanatos and Philippe "Vulcan" Laflamme’s efforts, FlyQuest closed out the fastest game of the Split.

While the early game was much calmer, the tension came to a head in the Drake Pit. Inspired walked up and won the smite fight while Song "Quad" Soo-hyung took First Blood. Grubs ended up split, with one for Cloud9 and the remainder going to FlyQuest. Bwipo and Inspired pulled off a daring tower dive, winning the battle for Feats of Strength. Cloud9 started to take Rift Herald but unfortunately could not take FLY’s pressure. After aggression reset, the objective went over to FlyQuest, uncontested.

The teams continued fighting midlane, and FlyQuest continued to push their lead. Atakhan was claimed by FlyQuest without contest, putting the gold lead near 8k. A fight broke out at Drake Pit but the objective and a crushing ace went to the team in green. Cloud9 was able to secure two kills as the game resumed after a technical issue, but ultimately, FLY won the game quickly and managed to shut out Cloud9.

In the first elimination match of the Split, LYON and Team Dignitas came out swinging. Many expected LYON to hold strong, given their performance recently, but DIG had their own plans for today. The tensions were high, but the stakes were higher.

First Blood went to LYON in an aggressive play botside and all three Void Grubs went to LYON, but Dignitas was able to take the first Drake of the game. LYON secured the Feat of Warfare after getting a third kill off of Kim "Keine" Joon-cheol.

Dignitas secured their second Drake as Jett "Srtty" Joye split pushed botside. Skirmishes continued botside, and DIG got a takedown on Kang "Saint" Seong-in, but no one else fell. LYON killed Atakhan without Jade "Sheiden" Libut nearby, making the smite an easy claim. The team fight following ended as a two-for-one in favor of LYON. They took their second Drake shortly after.

The teams kept fighting throughout the river and the topside jungle, but neither team got any kills from those initial trades. LYON took Baron and pushed turrets botside before taking another dragon and rushing into a fight up top. Dignitas was able to find a good engage, though, and wiped out all but Sebastián "Oddielan" Alonso Niño Zavaleta.

A major skirmish at the Drake Pit aced LYON, giving Dignitas the chance they needed to end the game. Rather than going for the objective, they rushed through LYON’s base, claiming victory in the first round.

Heavy trades took place across the map in the early game, leading up to a lane swap. LYON took Ocean Drake, and Dignitas evened the score by claiming all three of the Void Grubs. Sheiden was able to secure First Blood after an ult up top. LYON took their second Drake, and DIG almost secured First Turret, eventually coming back to claim the Feat.

Dignitas were able to prevent Soul but lost the teamfight afterward. LYON got three kills during the fight, giving them the boots buff. With the numbers advantage, LYON was able to get the Atakhan. A team fight in mid started as Baron spawned, killing Jonah "Isles" Rosario with no further casualties. Soul went over to LYON, and Hena’s curtain call proved to be too much for Dignitas. The gold lead was almost 6k gold in LYON’s favor. They shoved botside as five, and despite Dignitas’ best efforts, their opponents could not be stopped. They pushed through the inhibitors and Nexus, finally claiming victory and sending the series to game three.

Dignitas was able to take First Drake and Sheiden sniped a kill down botside. A teamfight at Drake Pit gave Dignitas the Feat of Warfare, but put both teams at four kills. Neither team claimed the Hextech Drake initially.

LYON took all three Void Grubs, and the teams prepared themselves to attempt Rift Herald. A solid ultimate combo from Isles and Frank "Tomo" Lam set Dignitas up for Herald nicely, giving them the boots buff. Dignitas secured an uncontested Atakhan while LYON was split-pushing. A 5v5 in the botside jungle started with Park "Hena" Jeung-hwan getting caught out alone but ended with Eric "Licorice" Ritchie and Oddielan falling. Dignitas claimed yet another Drake, but LYON was able to knock down two turrets botside.

With Dignitas at Soul Point, a 5v5 ended with each team losing four members, and a fight breaking out once everyone respawned. DIG were able to take Ocean Soul along with Baron, escaping narrowly with a clutch ult from Keine. Using Baron Buff, and a clever Realm Warp, Dignitas was able to break through LYON’s defenses and claim the Nexus, closing out the series and ending today’s games.

FlyQuest tore through Cloud9 today with a clean-cut victory 2-0 in the shortest series of the split so far. LYON and Dignitas’ matchup was on the fence until one team managed to flip the momentum their way. Despite LYON putting up a solid fight, Dignitas’ signature determination held strong throughout the series and landed them a ticket to next week’s competition. With today’s matches decided, we will be saying goodbye to LYON for the remainder of Split Two.

We’ll see you here tomorrow for updates on Team Liquid vs. Shopify Rebellion and Disguised vs. 100 Thieves!